Even before supply shortages, not a day goes by at Christensen’s Plant Center that requested nursery items (despite our fairly well-stocked and varied yard) are not available. High demand and scarcity in some areas certainly exist but smaller evergreens and woody ornamentals are in fairly good supply. When confronted with an unavailable or low quantity of a given shrub variety we work too hard to supply the exact variety when there are other ways to solve the problem. Especially in the areas of woodies, there are many interchangeable plant varieties.

During our COVID lockdowns, the one thing most people had was lots of time. There was a huge surge in interest in family histories; there were many searches on Ancestory.com and DNA samples sent to testing sites like 23andME. Discovering our past and finding distant relatives helped to fill the gaps in our social lives. The similar traits and DNA that make people a family exist as well in plants. Just as with people, plants have many traits and characteristics that define them and link them into family groups.

For sake of example, I am focusing on parts of the Honeysuckle Family (Caprifoliaceae). The Korean Spice Bush (Viburnum carlesi) is frequently requested around Mother’s Day. If we run low on this particular plant be assured, that there are a good number of solutions close at hand. Sibling variants, cousinly hybrids, and backcross hybrids are in good supply. What links them all together is the wonderful fragrance of spring after winter’s grasp. The following all offer a possible substitution for the original depending on the application. Larger in form with pinker buds is the well-known V. x juddii; also larger but with many more pink buds and semi-evergreen leaves are V. x burkwoodii and V. x burkwoodii ‘Mohawk.’ A smaller alternative with very large flowers is V. ‘Cayuga.’ These and more offer easy choices without leaving the species.

In a second example, we compare the genera Weigela and Diervilla both of the Honeysuckle Family. The Asian genus Weigela florida is everywhere in our landscapes. W. ‘Wine and Roses’ and others began the flood of pink-dominant flowering varieties. A painter’s palette of foliage colors defines this species of Weigelas. The genus Diervilla of eastern North America is a b & b plant (browsing and bumblebees). In its native circumstances, it has been browsed by moose and deer without ill effect and is an obvious favorite of bumblebees with its clusters of yellow, honeysuckle-like flowers. With the advent of the Kodiak series, Diervilla is now an active participant in landscapes still retaining its native status. These honeysuckles were separated by thousands of miles, but both possess unmatched foliage variety and the ability to flush vibrant new growth after a good trim. They have very similar leaf shapes and their phyllotaxis of alternating leaf patterns attest to their being of the same family.

Linnaeus and the Taxonomy of Horticulture give us the guidelines we need to find solutions to shortage problems. A shortage of plants just gives us an opportunity to expand our imagination and use the tools already at hand.

Spring in the nursery can be quite a magical time of year with the smell of the thawing earth in the air, the buds emerging on branches, green shoots coming from the ground, and Michigan temperatures all over the map! How can one possibly prepare for the everchanging weather patterns when they can range from cold to warm, dry to rain, and the occasional snow/sleet mix all in one day!

If you are anything like me (and you are probably not), I have a vast array of different gloves. My glove needs change throughout the day depending on what job or task I am involved in, so I seem to have an assortment of different gloves on me at all times. Thankfully we sell approximately 20 different varieties... And I think I have 15! A few of my favorites include the Ninja’s for cold weather, H2O waterproof, and the basic blue and grey palm. I also love the long print arm savers that help with prickly projects like roses. The Mudd line is very versatile and carries many options. Including the ‘Soft and Cool’ aloe. Aloe in a glove. Who knew? You can find many different material options as well, from leather to goatskin, bamboo to thermal, etc...

I could certainly continue with rain gear, hats and brim benefits, and multitudes of sunscreen products, however, I need to get back out into the plants! To sum up, the purpose of this article is that no matter what you are doing there is not one specific product that will meet all your needs for all of your jobs. Knowing what works for you and having the basics to meet the demands of the weather conditions you are working in is enough. No matter how many fun and fancy gloves I buy, what works for me are basic blue palm. No matter how many boots I go through, what works for me are basic, waterproof, all temperature, all season, one pair, work boot. Whatever “bibs” I have to add an extra layer of warmth to my already layers of warmth underneath are adequate. So as this new season gets underway, keep dry, warm, cool, layered, covered, and most of all- safe!

Happy Spring

I’m sure that we’ve all heard the saying “I’ll rest when I’m dead” at some point in our lifetime, and most of us have probably said it, as well. With my 50th coming up this year, I still think that I’m nearly indestructible like I was back in my 20s and 30s, so I embarked on quite the adventure this past winter.

I took on 6 jobs from December through April… simultaneously. That statement is no exaggeration, ladies and gentlemen. I worked here at the nursery a bit, plowed/salted, did my side company’s set up, bartended for an independent catering company, bartended a local bowling alley, and help set up a new Mediterranean restaurant which then led to me bartending there on a regular basis.

I do NOT recommend anyone doing this at any given age in anyone’s lifetime. Why do I say this? My body literally ached every day after the first month. Working open to close shifts bartending, which averaged 11 hours a day, only to have to turn around and work 2 more back-to-back open to close shifts. To make things even more interesting, shifts would overlap to where you work 2 jobs in the same day, which were maybe an hour apart from each other, which would lead to a 15-16 hour day. The worst was the triple shift that I feared would happen. I had my shift here in the morning, then jumped immediately to the restaurant from noon to 11 pm, and then left there to go plow. That resulted in a 24+ hour day. I then went home, took a nap (or rather collapsed), returned to the restaurant at noon for my opening shift, then left at 8 pm to go do snow cleanups.

As for me personally, I tend to get 5-6 hours, which seems like it’s not enough at any level. But during the winter season on days where I didn’t have to work a double shift, I’ve been known to sneak in a nap here and there like a toddler. For any of you that have had to run a snowplow for hours and hours at a time, you totally understand!

Other factors that can affect a level of quality sleep include noise in the environment, stress, poor sleep arrangements, drinking too much caffeine a few hours prior, so on and so forth. Follow the link if you would like to learn more about sleep deprivation, which includes even more symptoms and treatments. https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/307334

You only have 1 body in your lifetime, so be sure to take care of it!

While I am a new face in Customer Service, I have been a team member of Christensen’s for almost 8 years now. I have worn many hats during my time here. I began my journey with Receiving and Deliveries and then onto Hardscape Yard Operations which then lead to Customer Service. While I was excited about the promotion and eager to start a new position, as with starting anything new, there’s always a learning curve. Along with the changes at work, I started a new hobby, competitive shooting, that taught me many things I could apply to my new position. Here are some of the lessons I’ve learned from simultaneously taking on these two new endeavors.

My biggest takeaway has been holding myself accountable in different situations. I’m only as successful as I make myself. While I am on a customer service ‘team’, taking care of customers is a very individualized activity. Like shooting, I personally need to ensure the success of my customers’ visit, just as I ensure the score I receive when in competition. My preparation and attention to detail need to be top-notch each time I go into the yard to pull material. I need to be sure that I have the correct paperwork, the right plants, the healthiest plants and the best substitutions during our current availability challenges.  As I go onto the course for shooting, I know that my preparation will make a difference in my score. Knowing the course, having reloads ready and planned, and being in the right gear all are important factors.

In both activities, speed and precision are key. It won’t make a difference to you, our customer, how fast I was able to load your order if I didn’t get it correct. So, while I strive to get you back to your job site as quickly as possible, I always need to be aware of my precision.

Other lessons I’ve picked up include simple things like removing small distractions and focusing on the task at hand. Communication, adaptability, active listening, and the ability to work out any problems that might arise are dominant attributes in forming customer relationships.

It can be easy to become frustrated and discouraged when starting new endeavors. The idea of “new” is scary for many people. Personal and professional accountability can help ease some of those worries. The implementation of these essential qualities greatly assisted to curb some of the difficulties and challenges I found may arise. With my first year in customer service behind me, I can confidently say most of the worries I had were unfounded. I couldn’t have asked for a better year with Christensen's. As I aim my sights at the year ahead, I know that it will be a good year with my strategies ready to go. 

Christensen’s has been around in one form or another for over 90 years. Focusing on the green industry, we’ve been growers, retailers, and now a complete wholesale landscape supplier. Last year you probably noticed our Plant Center was remodeled, this year is the Hardscape Center’s turn! The hardscape yard was added 11 years ago and is an ever-growing part of our company. During the off-season, we considered our floorplan, moved things around, and brought in some new displays. If you haven’t visited us yet, an entirely new layout will greet you as you walk in the door.

It drives me nuts when the grocery store rearranges, and I can’t find the things I need when shopping. However, we spent a lot of time deciding on the intuitive placement of products to help you shop as conveniently as possible. We feel that the new open layout flows naturally and will make your experience in our store more pleasant and efficient.

Our new lighting section includes counter space for fixture demo and a large area for putting together your order.

With the addition of BrickStik Polyurethane Adhesive, we have your vertically stacked endeavors covered. Joining SRW Solvent-Based Adhesive, SRW Rapid-Set Polyurethane Adhesive, and Structure Bond Construction Foam Adhesive, BrickStik is one more sticky solution for your installation tool kit… You can find them all together in our adhesive section.

Perhaps the most striking makeover is to our counter. It has moved to an entirely different area of the store, where our Hardscape staff will be ready to help you with your project. Behind the counter we are displaying our selection of Boar Hog and SRW concrete saw blades, as well as the wildly popular Grabo hand-held vacuum lifter.

Inside isn’t the only place we’ve updated. Outside you will find the fabrics and grids have moved from behind the bulk bins to in front of the Hardscape Center. Speaking of bulk bins… we are thrilled to announce the return of brown hardwood fines!

All the things that you’ve come to expect from the Hardscape Center are still here. And there are even more supplies to make your stop quick and easy. We love the changes… stop by and tell us what you think!

Commercial Projects are my beat here at Christensen’s Plant Center. I spend each day advising and developing relationships with project managers, landscape architects and estimators on upcoming projects. The last two seasons have been extremely disruptive for commercial work. Many projects were delayed, abandoned, or just in limbo. Work dried up to a trickle, but, as the economy opened up, so did the project pipeline.

You can get your company into the pipeline in two different ways. Many commercial projects come through the bid letting sites, such as Dodge, BidNet (MITN), and MDOT. These are great sites to start your journey. Some are free, others charge, but each can be a beneficial resource when you’re looking.

Many projects are awarded based on relationships and connections. Project and construction managers are extremely loyal and protective of their teams. Commercial jobs can be demanding. Weather, change orders, and delays are all routine. Your team’s ability to respond and perform will earn you that loyalty. When you build these relationships, you will never lack for opportunities. I know project teams that have worked together for years.

What type of projects work for your company? Many times, project failure is just a mismatch of landscape contractor and the type of work involved. Large projects lasting many years have longer payment cycles that may not work for you and your suppliers. New construction, weather delays, inspections and approvals are all considerations and potential headaches. After you have been successful, and figured out “your type”, that should be your focus for the future.

The Gordie Howe International Bridge project is huge with thousands of plantings to be installed - how many companies can handle that scope of project, or even want to? This was never more apparent to me than this spring when I delivered some wetland plants to one of our contractors on Lake St. Clair. He was in a wetsuit, on a very nasty day, working in the water! He had his entire team in wetsuits. Now that’s a company that has found their niche and never will lack for project work. They can probably pick and choose what they want to work on. What a competitive advantage for them!

Focus your efforts on finding your projects. Build relationships with construction and project managers that specialize in your type of projects and sell your passion! Develop your team to earn more profitable projects and work on your type of projects. Don’t waste your time chasing the ones that won’t work. All projects are not created equal, so focus and discipline is required.

If I can ever assist you in developing your Project Team, let me know. The next few seasons will be like drinking out of a fire hose. The projects are going to come at us so fast and furious, we will look back at last year as the good old days. The supply chain shortages will sort out over the next few years, but last year is a taste of what’s coming. The disruption while challenging, also creates opportunities for you and your team. Start developing your Project Pipeline today. Build relationships that will keep your Pipeline full. Focus on your projects, and turn that fire hose into a drinking fountain!

Over the past three years, the green industry in Michigan, and indeed the country, has been on a high. But that high has come at a price, and that price has been our supply pipeline. The media has spent the past many months talking about supply chain woes. Anyone that has bought a car recently knows. Our supply chain woes have been slow in coming, and, regrettably, will be slow to reseed as well.

Growers in the nursery industry have spent the last three years trying to keep up with almost unprecedented demand. Unfortunately, our products take significant time to come to market; time that the growers have not had. Since an 8’ tall spruce takes almost 10 years to come to harvest, growers have done the only thing they could do to keep up with demand, which is to sell material early. In 2019, landscapes consumed some of the material slated for 2020 projects. In 2020, landscapes consumed all of that year's crop, and a large part of 2021’s crop, compensating for what was used for 2019 and covering the increase in sales. In 2021, the cycle repeated itself. 

Now we find ourselves in 2022, and there is nothing left to steal. Growers find themselves selling smaller and smaller plant material as landscapers accept smaller sizes to fill a planting. This does not allow for the filling of the pipeline with larger material, as it is all sold in a smaller size. 

With our product that takes between a few months to a decade to produce, the refill will be slow. 

Christensen’s will be a landscaper’s best friend as we navigate this supply issue. We are in constant contact with growers all over the country sourcing material. Our relationships allow us access to material often before it is published on an availability. Please use this resource! Let us use our reach instead of you spending hours trying to get answers.

Christensen’s Plant and Hardscape Centers is honored to be the resource for the landscape industry in southern Michigan. The relationship we have with you drives us every day to make sure that we are doing everything we can. And this year is no different. 

As I write this, I am watching our yard operations crew unload yet another load of trees. With the first trucks of the year arriving in mid-February, we continue our preparations for the 2022 landscape season. Plants and hardscape materials will continue to roll into our yard. I encourage you to use our 91 years of experience.

November 15 is the first day of firearm deer season in Michigan, and like many of you, I will be in my blind before sunup.

But deer camp isn’t about the hunting.

I came late into hunting. It just wasn’t something that interested me in my youth. I had always liked the shooting sports, but just never found the allure in hunting. Sometime in my twenties, my father and uncles convinced me to come to deer camp with them.

I had always thought of deer camp as this place that you went to. A place to basically sleep, as you spent all of your time hunting. I guess that is why I never was really attracted to it. Boy, was I wrong.

Deer camp allowed me to see my grandfather and uncles in a whole new light. I had always enjoyed being around my grandfather and uncles, but this was different. At camp it was only the adult men in the family. No kids, no moms. So, the rules all changed. Not that they suddenly became these crazed people, but they definitely let their hair down. And three of these guys are bald, so you can only imagine…

For the first few years I was the only grandchild there, the advantage of being the oldest of ten grandkids. And so, I got alone time with my grandfather. I got years of alone time with my grandfather. I chose a blind near his so I could have the walks in and out with him. I would get up early, which I HATE TO DO, so I could share breakfast with my early-rising grandfather and uncle. Looking back as I write this, I cannot help but smile at the memories that I made with my grandfather, and continue to make with my father and uncles.

My grandfather passed away from cancer in January of 2005. But he made it to deer camp in November of 2004. He couldn’t go to his blind, and just stayed around the camp and ate with us. But he was there. We still go to the same place to camp every year. We take the same campsites. We tell a lot of the same stories. And I wouldn’t trade it for anything.

Out of the seven of us that go to camp every year, we average one deer every other year. So no, deer camp isn’t really about the hunting. Good luck everyone, at YOUR deer camps, and may the memories you make last a lifetime.

I don’t do trees. Personally, I find them scary. Not just because they can fall on your house, in your pool or knock out your power. They are a force to be reckoned with! One time a tree came down on a house in my neighborhood and I was relieved when it didn’t totally crush the house.

Trees with weak limbs are definitely on the scary list. Pear. Silver maple! And of course, the tree that takes the scariest contest win every time. Weeping willow. Seriously, every scary movie has a weeping willow in it somewhere and as soon as you see it the creepy music starts playing. Oh, but wait. Google "weeping willow" and you get pics like this one from a horror novelist site. 

You heard the music didn’t you?

Maybe the weeping willow isn’t THAT scary, but how about this horrifically misshapen weeping beech at the Mt. Auburn Cemetery in Massachusetts? Honestly it looks like it wants to grab you by your hair. Massachusetts has plenty of spooky - ever hear of the Bridgewater Triangle?

Or check out the Burmis Tree in Alberta, Canada. It died in 1970 after living probably 700 years. Amazing and weird – yep, but the story goes on, this ancient limber pine stayed standing for another 28 years until it was knocked over by a wind storm. Now for something straight out of Steven King: the locals propped it back up and – like a zombie – it still stands on it’s cliff top for all to see.

Examples of scary trees like these exist all over. Scary trees don’t bother you? How about haunted trees? Let’s start with The Island of Dolls in Xochimilco, Mexico, haunted by hundreds of creepy whispering dolls hanging from the trees. Or the Hoia-Baciu Woods in Romania. Did I say Romania? I meant TRANSYLVANIA. This forest has a haunted circle where no trees will grow. And then there is the Freetown-Fall River State Forest ALSO in Massachusetts, aka the Cursed Forest, site of murders, supernatural events, and Sasquatch sightings. Something for everyone, really.

None of the examples above have given you the chills? People can find faces in grilled cheese, why not in trees? And feeling creeped out and scared can be easily caused by too much Halloween partying. Let’s return to the easier facts then.

You just can’t make this up. Barbed wire? No… thorns on a tree!!! Scientific fact – this is your old friend the Honeylocust sporting these daggerlike thorns. Thank a nurseryman for breeding the thorns out of them for us. This photo makes me think of some evil creature in a horror movie dragging a club with thorns – I can’t remember the movie but some horror slasher from the ‘80s.

But it could be worse – check out the spikes on the trunk of this charming specimen. Introducing the White Floss Silk Tree, Ceiba insignis. I am happy to report that it is NOT HARDY HERE.

(We are going to pass on cactus with their evil kitten claws, for now)

With all that said, I love October. Keep your pumpkin mocha – give me a good scary movie and some popcorn. I do love to be scared, just in a different way.

As someone in an outdoor profession, I spend a good portion of my monthly budget on sunscreen. My lily-white skin burns so easily that I wear SPF 30 well into the fall and winter. I’ve experimented with many different SPFs, application methods, and consistencies.

While I’ve tested many different brands and formulas, there are a few things that I typically look for.

Firstly, I check to see if the product contains Oxybenzone (Benzophenone-3), which may be carcinogenic, can cause skin allergies, and which has been shown to have harmful effects on marine coral. Exposure to Oxybenzene affects larval coral by making their skeleton structure develop prematurely and all wrong! Marine biodiversity is compromised and that is bad for the planet. Buying products with zinc oxide or titanium dioxide can help keep this chemical out of our waterways and oceans. In 2018, Hawaii was the first state to ban the sale of sunscreens containing Oxybenzone, and other island tourist destinations have done so as well. Research on this is ongoing.

Another thing I look for is water resistance. You’re out in the sun and you’re going to be sweating! If your sunscreen doesn’t have any kind of water resistance than you’re going to have to remember to put more on constantly through the day. I don’t know about you, but I have a hard enough time remembering to reapply even a couple of times when it should be done every two hours. Looking for a sunscreen that is water resistant for at least 30 minutes is very helpful. If you get caught in the sprinklers or are really sweating you’re still going to have to put on more but this may buy you some time and prevent a terrible sunburn.

The third thing I look for is either aloe or moisturizer. Being out in the elements all day really takes a toll on your skin. Both sun exposure and wind have been proven to be drying and abrasive. Prolonged UV exposure to skin can cause premature aging at the very least. No one really wants to look 20 years older, so using a sunscreen can help create a barrier between your skin and the elements.

Sunscreen can be kind of a pain to remember, but it’s definitely worth the effort. Sun damage is cumulative over your lifetime and can be worse than a simple sunburn, as painful as those can be.